Not Too Bad
by Phoenix McLean
Summary: After Percy and Annabeth had fallen into Tartarus, Hades called Nico to meet him in Underworld. What would happen after that? My first fanfic, one-shot, no slash, no romance.


**Hey guys, this is my first fanfic. Anything wrong just review or PM me.**

**This story is dedicated to my best friend, Crystal di Angelo. **

**Cover art by Viria.**

* * *

"Lord Ha-Hades, I-I'm here, wh-why are you cal-calling me?" Nico di Angelo said, shivering because of the cold and darkness in his dad's palace.

Although he had been going through lots of pain, but still, he was just a fourteen-year-old teen. He could also be afraid of something, or someone, and it was his own dad, Hades. Everyone knew that Hades was not that kind of nice parent.

"Son," Hades called Nico.

Nico nearly jumped when he heard Hades calling, he quickly bowed and kneeled in front of Hades.

"Lord Hades," Nico greeted.

"Rise, my son," Hades said.

Suddenly, Persephone popped out from nowhere, sitting beside Hades, staring coldly at Nico.

"Uh, Lord Hades-" Nico was cut off by Hades.

"Just call me dad, Nico," Hades said, gently.

Nico saw Persephone was glaring at Hades, he knew Persephone didn't like him.

But Nico didn't understand, Hades told Nico not to call him dad, and the fact was, Hades never spoke such gently, Nico felt like something bad was going to happen.

Nico gulped. "Uh, Lord Ha-I mean, dad, and Lady Persephone-" Nico was about to continue his speaking, yet cut off by Hades, again.

"You must be thinking why am I calling you down here, right?" Nico nodded, agreeing with Hades' words.

He had no idea what the call was for.

"Well, you know, Perseus Jackson and his little girlfriend had fallen into Tartarus, that means they would probably be dead by now, so you can replace-no, you can do better than Perseus Jackson and become the greatest hero in centuries!" Hades said with pride.

"But dad, they are going to survive, they will survive!" Nico protested, which earned a nasty look from Hades.

"Nonsense, don't you want to be as mighty as me?" Hades yelled.

"But he's my friend, dad, and he'll always be!" Nico yelled back, nearly crying.

"Don't be such a coward, your sister-" Hades said, but was cut off by Nico.

"Don't always compare me with Bianca! She's dead, but she'd always love me, unlike you!" Nico tried his best not to blurt out that, but still, he did.

A lonely tear flowed across his cheek, he couldn't stand it anymore. Hades stunned for millisecond, then he waved his pale hand, and the next moment Nico realized, he was in a room with no either doors or windows, alone.

_Locking me in a room again, great._ Nico thought.

Then he decided to have a rest, he closed his eyes and calmed his breath, falling asleep.

"_Annabeth, go! I'll follow you," Percy shouted._

"_No! I'll always by your side, Seaweed Brain. You'll never, never leave me again!" Annabeth said, crying._

_Percy understood. Annabeth and him had been apart for about a year, of course Annabeth wouldn't let go of him._

_But the monsters were approaching, he couldn't stand if Annabeth got hurt, he'd rather die._

_Then Annabeth drew her dagger, Percy quickly uncapped Riptide. Their celestial bronze weapons were glowing faintly in the dark._

"_Ready?" Percy asked._

"_I'll always be ready, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth muttered._

_Percy gave Annabeth a goofy grin, and they both charged into monsters._

* * *

"_Percy!" Annabeth screamed as soon as Percy was stabbed by a monster._

_Percy collapsed and Annabeth sprinted to him, not caring about the monsters._

"_An-Annabeth," Percy called weakly._

"_Yes?" Annabeth asked, her tears dropping onto Percy's cheek._

"_Don't worry, I'll always be with you. I won't leave you," Percy promised._

"_B-but, the cut is deep, and it's gushing a lot of blood!" Annabeth said, helping Percy to slow down the blood flow._

_But then Percy screamed, scaring Annabeth._

"_Wh-what's wrong? Are you alright? Answer me, Seaweed Brain!" _

"_The blade, it was poisonous!" Percy cried, then he blacked out._

"_No, no! Percy!" Annabeth screamed, tears flowing on her bloody cheeks._

Nico sat up, his body drenched with sweat.

_That couldn't be real, it couldn't! _Nico thought, he was in panic.

"They are in an extreme danger, as you saw just now, yet no one knows that they can make it to the Doors of Death or not," Persephone said.

Nico did let out a soft scream because of Persephone's appearance.

"What are you going to say?" Nico said coldly, raising an eyebrow.

"As I was saying, Perseus and his girlfriend-" Persephone was cut off by Nico.

"Annabeth," Nico said.

"Right, Perseus and Annabeth are in serious danger, and we can't do anything to help them."

"So?"

"That's why your father wants you to know that it's difficult to get them back."

"Uh huh,"

Persephone sighed. _Boys, always slow._ She thought.

"That means he cares about you, a lot," she continued.

Nico blinked in surprise. "Did he?"

"Yes, he did-no, he _does_," Persephone replied.

Nico was in shock. He never realized that Hades actually did care about him.

"You know, he can't sleep for days, because of you," Persephone broke the silence.

"Pardon?" Nico said.

_Whoa! _He thought. _That's way too polite._

"Yes, all he thinks, all he talks about is you, his ungrateful son."

"B-but I thought he cares nobody," Nico whispered.

"Of course he cares!"

"But-"

"Even the Lord of Dead actually cares? Of course he does! He has a family too. Who doesn't care about their families? He's just pretending to be grim, and cool. Just because he's the Lord of Dead, you think he doesn't even care about you?" Persephone said.

"B-but I don't know, I'd just thinking that he doesn't like me," Nico said, feeling guilty.

"He wants you to become a great hero, you are his pride, you know?"

"You mean, he loves me, he cares about me, and he's proud of me?"

"Yes. So, are you going to apologize?"

"Wh-what?!"

"You broke his heart, you know?"

"Did I?"

Persephone nodded.

"But how?"

"I guess he's still awake by now."

"So, you mean get into his room?"

"Yes."

Nico felt like he was fainting. He thanked Persephone and left the room quickly.

_Maybe this boy is not too bad._

* * *

Nico knocked the door.

"Uh, Persephone, is that you?" Hades asked.

"Dad."

"Oh, Nico."

"Can I get in?"

"Uh, maybe."

Nico opened the door and saw Hades sitting on his bed.

"D-dad, I-I'm sorry,"

"Why?"

"Lady Persephone had been talking to me just now, she said, I broke your heart…"

_That Persephone. _Hades thought.

"So I thought for a while, and I realized that you'd really care about me,"

Nico hugged Hades, surprising him. He heard Nico was sobbing on his back. He gently patted Nico's back with his pale hand.

_Maybe Hades is not too bad, for being my father._

* * *

Persephone crept into Hades' room, what she saw was Hades hugging Nico in his arms, fell asleep.

She smiled, Hades and Nico smiled in their sleep, too.

_Maybe having a little son is not too bad._


End file.
